What do you use to write dates on your eggs?

[Kelly G]

I have a Brinsea Eco 20 and a Mini Advance (the mini is on its way to me, now).

I only have one roo covering 30 hens, so my fertility is going to be pretty low....so my plan is to candle all 21 eggs in the Eco 20 on day 9, toss out those that are infertile, and replace them with more eggs....then repeat the process.

The mini will be for those eggs that make it to lock-down/need to not rotate/need high-humidity.

My problem is that I'm worried I'll forget which were put in on what dates, so I'd like to date the eggs on the day they were put into the incubator.

What can I safely use to write on my eggs?

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I'm just using a pencil. I don't know if ink would bother them but I have been told by old timers not to use pens or markers so I don't.

 

[Olive Hill]

Pencil, Pen, Sharpie... take your pick.

ETA: Depending on the sexual aggressiveness of your roo -- not to be confused with just plain old aggressiveness -- I wouldn't count on a whole lot of infertility. If he has a good appetite your infertility should still be low with that number of hens. I'm currently running one good roo with 26 hens and an infertile egg is a rare thing.

 

[bigdawg]

something non toxic. i use dry erase markers. works under setting hens great and get another roo

 

[Mahonri]

I use a pencil.

Last year my Ameraucana roo jumped on anything that moved. Every egg was fertile. This year he only has 17 hens and I get a few that aren't fertilized.

I have a younger roo in there with him but I don't think he would dare get frisky with the hens....

 

[Gypsy07]

I've been told pencil is best. Pencil lead is dry and sits on the shell rather than going through it. Ink is wet and can penetrate the shell and affect the contents. I'm not sure if ink would really be all that terribly bad but the explanation I got makes sense and so I've only ever used pencil to mark my eggs. My hatch rates aren't anything spectacular though...

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:

Last summer my kids had a "pet" EE roo out here. He was beta to my Australorp roo and for a long time he didn't dare even look at a hen. Finally last fall he started working up enough courage. He'd wait until the BA was as far across the property or out of sight as possible (they all free-range) and then grab a hen. Of course the hen would protest and the BA roo would come RUNNING. So many times he would never slow down and just body slam the EE off the hen and they'd both go tumbling in a big ball of feathers. Funniest chicken TV ever.

 

[rearrolled]

we use prmanent marker on our eggs and nothinks rong u c it better than pencil but pencil is fine

 

[MaransGuy]

I use pencil and sharpie markers- never had a problem with either.

 

[MissJenny]

The eggs I bought a month ago were marked with a pencil on the ends. Four of my eggs went under a hen and four went in the incubator. For my own purposes I made marks in the middle of the eggs, so I could tell which direction to turn them. What I did not realize was that once I moved the fertile eggs under the hen for the last ten days, my marks would be worn off by her turning. But the marks on the end were still very visible. My point is, I don't think it matters so much what you use to mark them, but rather where you mark them.

Jenny